introduction to organizational discourse analysis · pdf fileorganization itself ... sclash of...
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
S
Introduction to
Organizational
Discourse Analysis Gail T. Fairhurst
University of Cincinnati
A webinar for the Collective Leadership Network
Session II
![Page 2: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Definitions
S Fairhurst & Putnam (1998): “d”
S “the study of words and signifiers, including the form or structure of these words, the use of language in context, and the meanings or interpretations of discursive practices”
S European & Australasian Scholars: Foucault’s “D”
S Systems of thought, assumptions, language, etc.
S Grant, Hardy & Putnam (2011):
S “a broad class of approaches that focuses on the constitutive effects of language; processes of text production, distribution and consumption; and reflexive, interpretive analysis aimed at deciphering the role of discourse in a socially constructed reality”
![Page 3: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Texts
S Written documents to memory traces to verbal routines—all of
which may be reconfigured through continued use (Derrida,
1988).
S How do texts get created, used, and circulated?
S Discourses represent structured collections of texts.
S Discourses exist beyond any given text since they retain a
generative capacity to source new texts and thus stand ready to
layer and interweave with current practices, as situations demand.
![Page 4: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Just a method? No!
S ODA operates within a broad social constructionist epistemology
S A perspective in its own right, one that gained significant momentum with the linguistic turn.
S ODA focuses on the discourse itself; that is, on how it is organized and what it is doing. Asking what discourse is doing is a very different theoretical question than focusing on how it represents ideas and objects.
S Theory-method pairings are not uncommon in organizational discourse analysis because it incorporates methodological concerns fundamental to its constructionist roots.
S Types of data (e.g., meaning-centered), theoretical and analytical lens, actor/analyst reflexivity, and so on.
![Page 5: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
1. How does discourse constitute the features of
organizational life?
S Features include identities, relationships, cultures, contexts,
leadership, organizational units, and other phenomena
S Informed by social constructionism, ODA problematizes the
taken-for-granted, including the very notion of the
organization itself
S Primary issues concern agency, process, and possibility
S The organizing potential of language and texts
![Page 6: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
S
Interaction Data: Discourse Methods
![Page 7: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
The Case of Katie Conway
S Female rookie (age 23) cop patrolling a bad neighborhood at 8:00 pm, Feb., 1998
S Assailant motions for her to pull over
S He shoots her 4 times with a .357 magnum, takes control of the cruiser
S As struggle ensues, she radios for help
S Eventually, she kills him with a bullet wound to the head
S 4 minute call to the dispatcher in the midst of the struggle as police supervisors frantically search for her vehicle (just prior to GPS)
![Page 8: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Post-Positivist Discourse
Different questions:
S Cause-effect “Why?”
questions (e.g., traits or
predictors of leaders or
followers and successful
outcomes)
S How is leadership
‘brought off’?
S What kind of leadership
are we talking about?
![Page 9: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Interaction Analysis
S How is control shared (or not)? Coding for one-up, one-down, one-across and forming “interacts”
S Three types of interacts: complementary, symmetrical, transitory (,, patterns over many such incidents)
S No one supervisor takes command; multiple supervisors almost in a rolling wave
S Dispatcher is the most frequent communicator, but consistently defers to police
![Page 10: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Conversation Analysis
S How do people use conversational methods and procedures to make sense of their worlds to one another?
S Turn-taking, membership categorization, accounting practices, and so on
S Effectiveness is gauged at the point Conway chooses HRO Discourse over victim Discourse
S Membership Categorization:‘Distress.’ (line 24)
![Page 11: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Speech Act Analysis
S Focuses on the performative function of language (e.g., “I baptize you.”)
S Examines 5 categories of speech acts (e.g., assertives, declaratives, expressives, directives, commissives)
S Examines their episodic sequencing
S “Command presence” occurs with multi-functional“I’ll be there in 5 seconds…” (line 34)
S Episodic closure!
![Page 12: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
S
Questions? How does discourse constitute the features of organizational life?
What organizing features make this an HRO?
What constitutes leadership in this situation?
Your questions?
![Page 13: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
S
Interview Data: Discourse Methods
![Page 14: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
What if you had interview data
on Katie Conway incident(s)?
S Maybe you are studying a single event, asking all of the actors to
account for their actions during this time in follow-up interviews.
S Maybe you are able to get many such interviews of police rescues,
and you want to study leadership issues (e.g., command presence),
leader-member sensemaking processes during emergencies,
organizational learning, and so on.
S Maybe you are able to combine interaction data with interview
data through grounded theory methods.
![Page 15: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Post-Positivist Discourse
Different questions:
S Cause-effect “Why?”
questions (e.g., traits or
predictors of leaders or
followers and successful
outcomes)
S How is leadership
‘brought off ’?
S What kind of leadership
are we talking about?
![Page 16: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Definitions
S Fairhurst & Putnam (1998): “d”
S “the study of words and signifiers, including the form or structure of these words, the use of language in context, and the meanings or interpretations of discursive practices”
S European & Australasian Scholars: Foucault’s “D”
S Systems of thought, assumptions, language, etc.
S Grant, Hardy & Putnam (2011):
S “a broad class of approaches that focuses on the constitutive effects of language; processes of text production, distribution and consumption; and reflexive, interpretive analysis aimed at deciphering the role of discourse in a socially constructed reality”
![Page 17: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
What leadership Discourses
might be operating?
S Heroic leadership discourse
S Collective leadership discourse
S Authoritarian discourse
Key: Look for that ring of familiarity!
Discourses are repertoires (i.e., linguistic tool bags) of habitual forms of arguments, terminology, metaphors, styles, and so on.
![Page 18: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
What leadership Discourses
might be operating?
S Heroic leadership discourse
S “If I was the hero today, so be it. I was willing to do whatever it took to save her life. That’s who I am.”
S Collective leadership discourse
S “It was a team effort. I was just in the right spot at the right time. We train very hard for these situations, and we all have to pull together for our common goals.”
S Authoritarian discourse
S “I’m always very much in control in these situations, and I regard it paramount that I maintain a strict sense of order on scene.”
![Page 19: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
S
Questions? How can you tell when a Discourse surfaces in interview (or interaction) data?
Can more than one Discourse appear in such data?
![Page 20: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Using Interviews to Study
Tensions and Contradictions
S Clash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox
S Again, Discourses are repertoires (i.e., linguistic tool bags) of habitual forms of arguments, terminology, metaphors, story themes, and so on
S Tensions are generated when actors select from competing repertoires/Discourses when communicating
![Page 21: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
What might this look like with Katie Conway?
Discourse of Victimhood
S Pleas for help
S Extreme emotional displays
S Expressions of suffering
S Identification of inflicted injuries
Discourse of Police
Emergencies
S Requests for help using police
jargon and protocol
S Routinization of emotion
S Attention to authority
S Use of message redundancy
for officers not co-present
![Page 22: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
What Discourse is operating here?
Looking for that “ring of familiarity”
Interview question: Why didn’t Conway use police jargon from
the start?
Interviewee: She was fighting for her life! She had just been
shot four times with a .357 magnum. Wrestling with her
assailant, bleeding out, and calling dispatch were probably all
she could manage. Plus she was probably worried about going
into shock.
![Page 23: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
What Discourse is operating here?
Looking for that “ring of familiarity”
Interview question: Why didn’t Conway use police jargon from the start?
Interviewee: She was fighting for her life! She had just been shot four times with a .357 magnum. Wrestling with her assailant, bleeding out, and calling dispatch were probably all she could manage. Plus she was probably worried about going into shock.
Victim Discourse
![Page 24: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
What Discourse is operating here?
Looking for that “ring of familiarity”
Interview question: Why didn’t Conway use police jargon from
the start?
Interviewee: I’m sure she would have if she could. She was
trained to do this, and her life depended on it. The sooner she
can collect her wits, the better. We’re trained to routinize
emergencies. That may sound cruel, but it’s the only way to get
the necessary help in time to manage a crisis.
![Page 25: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
What Discourse is operating here?
Looking for that “ring of familiarity”
Interview question: Why didn’t Conway use police jargon from the start?
Interviewee: I’m sure she would have if she could. She was trained to do this, and her life depended on it. The sooner she can collect her wits, the better. We’re trained to routinize emergencies. No emotion. That may sound cruel, but it’s the only way to get the necessary help in time to manage a crisis.
Police Emergency Discourse
![Page 26: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
What tensions might these two
Discourses generate?
Discourse of Victimhood
S Individual
S Emotion
S Chaotic
Discourse of Police
Emergencies
S Collective
S Rationality
S Organized
![Page 27: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
How do tensions get managed?
S Simple contradiction? (Either-Or: one Discourse or the other)
S “You have to choose in that situation. Are you going to be a police officer and live or die a victim?”
S Ambidexterity? (Both-And: both Discourses are held in tension with one another)
S “I give Conway credit. She was holding it together bleeding out and still she managed her own emergency. Kudos to her.”
S Impossible Choice? (Neither Discourse is viable: ‘Damned if you do, damned if you don’t’)
S “She’s a woman and a rookie, what do you expect?”
![Page 28: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
What local logics might these two
Discourses generate?
Discourse of Victimhood
S “To hell with protocol if
fighting for your life”
Discourse of Police
Emergencies
S “Protocol will save your life the
sooner you can use it”
![Page 29: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
S
Questions? How does one recognize a Discourse in interview talk?
How do Discourses generate tension, contradiction, or paradox?
Your questions?
![Page 30: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
Thorny Leadership Issues
and ODA
S Who is defining leadership?
S Discursive approaches typically do not start out with specific theories of leadership prior to data analysis.
S Stronger links between leadership and organizing?
S How should we define leadership?
S Role-based?
S Mobilizing achievement?
S Power and influence language games?
S Attribution?
![Page 31: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
Thorny Leadership Issues
S Can you combine discursive approaches with other kinds of data, including quantitative data?
S Paradigms as discourses (Deetz, 1996, Organization Science)
S What do we see, think, and talk about with a Discourse that is:
S Post-positivist?
S Interpretive?
S Critical Discourse?
S Postmodern Discourse?
S The “true science” problem
![Page 32: Introduction to Organizational Discourse Analysis · PDF fileorganization itself ... SClash of Discourses generates tension, contradiction, paradox ... Introduction to Organizational](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022050804/5aad17247f8b9a693f8de31a/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
S
Questions?